Iran discovered an additional 1,365 people infected with nCoV, the highest increase in 24 hours, bringing the total number of people infected to more than 12,700, of which 600 died.

"An additional 1,365 confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 12,729, of which 4,339 have recovered. Covid-19 caused an additional 97 deaths, a total of 611 deaths," the spokesman said. Iranian Ministry of Health officer Kianoush Jahanpour said in a video conference today.

Tehran, home to Iran's capital, is the region with the highest number of nCoV cases, with 347 cases, followed by Isfahan city with 155 cases and Alborz province with 134 cases.

Jahanpour said the number of new infections in the country is likely to increase in the coming days as Iranian laboratories accelerate sampling and testing of nCoV.

Iran is the third largest epidemic region in the world after China and Italy, its health system also encountered difficulties before Covid-19 outbreak due to the effects of US sanctions.

Many senior Iranian officials, politicians, clergy and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) have been infected with nCoV. Iranian media today announced that Brigadier General Nasser Shabani, the senior commander of the IRGC, died of nCoV infection. General Shabani is the most senior officer among the 6 members of the IRGC to die from nCoV so far.

Iran has issued emergency measures to combat Covid-19, such as canceling mass meetings, restricting travel and releasing thousands of inmates but ineffective. Iran blocked the nation on March 13, security forces received orders to "clean the streets" and the entire population was monitored for the next 10 days.

Covid-19 originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and appeared in 149 countries and territories, leaving nearly 149.00 infected, more than 5,500 dead and more than 73,4700 people recovered. The World Health Organization (WHO) declares Europe a "global epidemic" because Covid-19 is complicated in the region with thousands of new cases detected every day.